Zootopia - Running Wilde
by Quinkenguard
Summary: Change is essential to every city to ensure that social and economic process is made. In a city like Zootopia, learning to live with such change is amazing for some, despairing for others. Some change allows us to use the past as stepping stones rather than a burden to carry. New challenges, new friends and new enemies. As long as family matters, the future is not so fearful.
1. Chapter 1

_0264, The 7th age of Mammalkind_

 _Zootopia is the manifestation of an interspecies dream._

 _Its goal is provide a place where any kind of mammal regardless of size and shape can live and find solutions to their differences in peace._

 _Zootopia has grown as a city state, located within neutral territory, and after almost 200 hundred years of existence, has surpassed expectations of its founders, becoming a centre for international peace after millennia of fear and conflict._

 _It thrives in prosperity and innovation in its diversity._

 _It is a world city bustling with businessmen, scientists, scholars, diplomats, and visitors from around the globe._

 _23 million mammals with over 500 different species living together._

 _It is a centre that also attracts mammals of greed and corruption._

 _Where old rivalries between different species surface._

 _The renowned Zootopia Police Department is tasked with ensuring that Zootopia continues its purpose of being a symbol of interspecies friendship._

 _The most skilled and courageous are assigned to Precinct 1, the Centre of Zootopia._

Michael Harrie pulled at the long strands of fur on his chin that were distinctive to his species. He glanced out over the rise in Downtown Zootopia that provided him with view of the outer suburbs and towards Sahara Square to the bay.

He slipped back into the alley and the goat chewed the gum in his mouth thoughtfully. The building he had his eye on was with stone masonry just like any other building along Tobol Avenue. Close together with several alley ways with fire escapes crossing the height of the apartment blocks. Backed against the incredible high rises that made up the CBD of Zootopia on one side, on the other side he could see landscaping attempts to green the area with squares cut out of the sidewalk and needle leaved shrubs beginning to shoot towards the sky.

He stopped in mid-chew and glanced out of the alley way again to see a porcupine in a suit and fedora with a briefcase in hand, march up to the front door of the building and greeted by an opossum. There was also a lion parked on the other side of the road that seemed to be having trouble with his tire, he had his full attention on getting the car's jack together so he didn't see him as a problem.

Harrie turned to the pig in a trench coat and upswept hair style that was leaning against a huge square bin beside him and nodded. The opossum immediately caught sight of him and his bodyguard and stood by the open door. The marsupial's ears twitched with anticipation as the other pair emerged from the alley opposite the road. Micheal Harrie the Goat and "Razor" the Pig reached the building first and the opossum whispered "Second Floor, second of the left" as they went past.

He then turned to the second pair, a cougar in a modest dark green jacket and jeans. He was with a fox clad in a jacket with a gelled Mohawk and a pair of tinted green glasses followed.

The Cougar and the Fox stamped up two flights of stairs and Michael and Razor in a room with the Porcupine seated at a small table in the rooms centre opening the briefcase.

"Gnash is not here." The Cougar said with a flat tone. He shot his eye to see if, Bart, his fox body guard, was watching the doorway.

Bart nodded his vigilance

"He knew the time of this meeting regardless, Mr. Pelt " the porcupine replied "I will proceed. I have other meetings to attend to"

The porcupine looked up from under the fedora.

"You all know why you are here."

From the briefcase he pulled out a black box filled with malleable foam with a small cylinder outline cut in the middle.

"You wish to use my merchandise for your own purposes. I can assure you that these components will do as they say."

From the briefcase he lifted two small metal cylinders the size of a fridge magnet.

"One thing that you must remember is to put the Bollix cylinder into its container when it is not in use."

"It can disrupt any kind of technology from cell phones to a large network of CCTV cameras when placed on a power relay box. Its covering will prevent that when in storage. "

He saw scepticism in his audiences face.

"Just to show you that there is power in these things..."

The porcupine quickly hit two of them together and a large metallic shriek nearly pulverised the eardrums of everyone in the room.

Michael grasped his horns covering his ears.

Manus Pelt's paws flicked back hitting Bart the Fox in the stomach.

The blow made Bart bow forward and slightly dislodge his green tinted glasses.

Manus turned instinctively so he could see what he hit. He caught a glance of the fox's eyes before the glasses went back on.

He turned back to the porcupine, but his buckskin face frowned and turned back to the fox.

"Wait, you are not Bart!"

Manus' memory went into overload as he remembered feeling fury seeing the picture of a green eyed fox in uniform

The uniform of an...

Manus eyes suddenly flared.

"You're that COP!"

The fox had a gun in his hand in an instant and his glasses clattered to the floor. He wiped his paw over the collar of his jacket and pressed down of a button in the cloth.

"S'right buddy!"

Everybody in the room held his gaze as he passed the sights of his ZPD standard pistol over them.

"You are Nick Wilde!" Michael seethed "Well, I never."

"I've got a dart for each of you if any of you makes a move" He backed towards the door.

Then his instincts kicked in and told him that someone was behind him.

He felt the wind on the back of his neck when a tawny fist with black spots threw a right hook narrowly missing the police fox.

Nick recovered spinning to plant a kick on his attacker. A Jaguar. The Jaguar caught the blow in his shoulder and let out a grunt.

He realised that this was the late comer to the meeting.

Raymond "Gnash" Tawnous.

A criminal with a reputation of using his species powerful jaws in robbing and maiming his victims.

Nick cursed the obvious solution in his hand and tried to get his dart gun up.

Unfortunately as he descended to the ground, Manus took no time in grabbing the fox in headlock with his right arm.

"To think I respected your cunning to see you end this way, Wilde" Manus breathed into his ear.

Nick felt the puma tighten his grip around his neck then suddenly the pumas arm went slack and Nick pulled himself free as Manus fell to the ground unconscious.

The rest of the criminals in the room spun around to see a rabbit in a protective vest and blue uniform kneeling on the open window sill, a dart gun in her right paw.

The criminals yellow eyes looked at her with intimidating coldness and reached for their belts.

Suddenly Gnash's large eyes fluttered as his knees folded beneath him and he fell to the ground.

This revealed Officer Delgato with his pistol entering to room.

Dressed exactly as the lion fixing his tire on the side of the road.

"Games up! You're Busted!"

Quick as a flash, Michael pushed past the salesman and Razor to the bathroom.

He took point when he entered the room and knew that the window was slightly open and big enough to fit through.

He stopped suddenly when the muzzle of a pistol pressed against his nose and a white wolf with narrow eyes stepped forward forcing Manus to walk backwards back into the room with the pistol against his nose.

The white wolf smiled "Looks like Nick tagged you around long enough to allow him to introduce you to ZPD SWAT."

Nick stood up. "The cat's outta the bag"

Everyone in the room froze as a noise that sounded like a train whistle came through the room. The officers and criminals all looked at each other.

Finally Delgato hit the side of his phone. "My daughter keeps changing my cell phones ringtone". He muttered.

Four police cruisers sat in the street each side with their lights flashing.

They had few passengers to take into the station in cuffs. Harrie, Gnash, Razer, Pelt ,the porcupine businessmen as well as their bodyguards.

Nick Wilde scratched the fur on the top of his head with claws ruffling up that mohawk.

Three weeks talking gangster was enough for him. He was ready for the boring duties of being a street cop again.

It will certainly nice to spend his time with...

Right on cue, Little Bunny Sure-Shot was right next to him.

Nick smiled "Not bad, hey Jude?"

Judy grinned and slapped him lightly on his arm.

"Three gang leaders, their body guards and a black market associate. Yeah, not bad at all."

Nick looked up to the skyline "With these guys in the bag I reckon this neighbourhood will be a better place to live."

Nick saw the corners of Judy's mouth go up.

Nick looked up at the stars.

"Well, better get this debriefing over with so we can call it a night so we can get into that R and R first thing tomorrow".

A loud and irritating sound filled the dark room, illuminated only by the red numbers on the alarm clock. Darkness did not matter to Nick Wilde, but for a few seconds he stared accusingly at that clock.

"Mmm…. Uh… Ohh"

The sounds he made reflected his protesting body's return to a conscious state. He hit the top of the clock turning off the alarm.

Dressed in just some boxer shorts and an old T-shirt he stumbled into the kitchen and flicked on the light.

He heard some deep snoring from behind a door coming into the kitchen. Finnick didn't share his morning routine.

Except on special occasions.

His first route was to the fridge where he knew an opened container of instant coffee was kept.

He felt a surge of distain as to how light the container felt. Shaking it confirmed that it was completely empty.

"Then why the heck did I put it…?"

Nick sighed. Then the corners of his mouth twitched upward.

His brain kicked in again finally and a wave of euphoria hit him as he realised he didn't need to go to work and he could forget the character role-play as Bart.

Last night he hit the hay early after spilling out his experiences to the police executives and the local counseller at the station.

At present his first instinct was to go back to bed for a sleep-in.

Then again, he should embrace this day to the full.

He chuckled as he realised that he didn't know what to do first.

Then he remembered the empty cardboard container in his hand.

He could head out and satisfy his craving for an espresso cappuccino.

He pulled the fridge open again. Could to a shop while he was looking for coffee. Get one thing out of the way.

Strolling along he stopped at a small shopping centre and went to get his dose of coffee.

He noticed a new sushi place had opened up there. Not a bad idea to grab lunch there with a special someone.

This early he was first in line and the barista knew what they were doing so the first sip of foam off the top was heaven this morning.

He had just passed out of the doors when he heard the ruckus around a vending machine happening the other end.

It was Fangmeyer the Tiger and Higgens the Hippo, they both were glowering over a badger. No doubt they were returning after night shift to the station when they saw a badger breaking the law. The small predator had both paws behind his head they all headed towards the cruiser.

They looked up and Nick was there.

"Morning officers, Fangmeyer. Higgens."

The two nodded in response.

"Officer Wilde" they said

Nick looked at the badger.

"Fallow"

The badger made no movement, but his brown eyes against his dark fur narrowed.

"In another place it would be good to see you, Wilde" he said quietly

Nick frowned.

"Well, I just thought you'd be too smart to go for looting a vending machine in plain view."

The badger grunted.

Nick looked up.

"Did you think about cuffing him after searching him?"

Higgens tilted his head.

"Don't see why not. He easily complied."

He looked smugly at the fox.

"...and they did teach us how to search in basic training"

Nick's eyes narrowed and returned the smug expression.

" Annnnd, Did they teach you about... kletpo's? Especially the professional artists?"

Fangmeyer and Higgens looked at each other and bent down again. They pulled out several objects from the badgers pockets.

" _Hey my Wallet_!"

" _My Watch_!"

Nick turned.

"Oh, its probably best if you put one of them mouth guards on him."

Fangmeyer and Higgens looked up.

"I know I'm not a fan of it" Nick continued "but in this instance, I think it's for the best."

He watched as they escorted their felon into their car.

Nick Wilde turned back to the mall and thought about the list in his pocket.

He had a sense of satisfaction. It seemed like that all his past experiences had been preparing him for this.

He knew every street and alley like the back of his hand and the network of different criminals.

Of course he couldn't take them himself, but needed a partner that could think fast on her feet, sharp eye and could spout legal procedure like a text book.

It also meant, for the most part, when the day was finished he could have a bit of time to unplug and unwind without needing to worry that some disgruntled customer would be coming through his door.

This change in him also got him thinking about other areas of his life.

"...Then there's Felicity, Sophie and Grace."

Judy finally stopped for a breath and took a bite out of a cucumber and cheese roll before quietly wiping the soy sauce off her mouth.

Nick had slowly been munching way and licking a bit of tuna off this thumb answered.

"So that's _all_ your siblings?"

Judy smiled.

"No uh... actually those are just my sisters." She raised a finger. "My brothers now... Oh"

She picked up her phone was buzzing against the table top and opened her messages.

"Oh hey!" She smiled "Paul's been accepted into the academy!"

She looked up and her partner. "That's one of my brothers!"

She looked back down. "He's with thirty other bunnies that are going through with him to become officers!"

Nicks eyebrows shot up. "Well, Carrots looks like you're not going to be alone on the force."

Judy looked back up at Nick. "Yeah, maybe I'll have to visit there and see that he settles in well."

She smiled "It's good that he won't be alone there. I thought with him it would be just a matter of time."

Nick smiled back "Well, he'll have the same mentor that got me through the academy. A type personalities are the best motivators."

Judy gave him a look. "I helped you with the legislation and the text book stuff. You have some original ideas when it came to practical application."

Judy frowned. "I really thought that you wouldn't be up for undercover work. I'm really impressed by that. You will have to write some guidelines for me if I'm ever approached in the future."

Nick shrugged. "Being a street cop's well and good. I was ready for something a bit more interesting."

Nick smiled. "In my past career I did pull the wool over the eyes over a lot of mammals..." He sat back in his chair. "...but that gang bust had to be the hustle of the decade."

He pointed a finger at his partner. " I couldn't have pulled it off knowing you were watching my back".

Judy smiled and then frowned slightly "You did almost make me forget that we switched the nighthowler pellet when you tore up that deer in that museum. Kinda made me really panic for a moment."

"I had a bit of practice as a kid tearing stuff up."

Nick paused and his eyes narrowed.

"I guess I got angry as a kit sometimes..." he continued " I decided to take it out on different things."

Judy spoke up quietly.

"You know you haven't mentioned your mother much."

Nick tapped his claws on the table.

"She and I had a falling out ten years ago. I guess I haven't really thought about it since I was constantly thinking about the next plan for a hustle."

He lent against his left hand on the table.

"I don't know what she is doing right now."

For about ten seconds an awkward silence set in.

Judy did not know what to say after that.

"Well." She began "Bogo mentioned that there is going to be a number of international partners coming in. You could find a bit of spare time next week if you want to..."

" _Hey look! The shops got an actual octopus in their fish tank!"_

Judy spun around to see an array of tentacles disappear under a rock in _Sushi Corners_ aquarium.

She turned back to see one of her rolls missing.

Nick had it in his paws pretending to hold it towards his mouth with a mischievous look in his eye.

Judy laughed and reached out to snatch it back.

"Well, you gonna eat up Carrots or do I have to finish it for you?"

After wrestling her roll back, she took large bite and returned his smug expression.

"You know it bugs me Carrots..." He began

"Really?" Judy frowned and looked at his tray. "I thought you were eating fish?"

Nick chuckled and continued.

"The operation came together because we knew those gang leaders were working together and we were ready to pounce because we knew they were meeting. That porcupine with the brief case was a surprise..." He rubbed his ears remembering the sound those metal cylinders made.

Judy swallowed a piece of her roll.

"That porcupine with those... Bollix cylinders. He was ready to sell those things to those lowlifes."

She tapped her chin.

"Imagine the damage they could do with them if they got away with them."

Nick hummed with agreement

"Hopefully, we might not have to find out."


	2. Zootopia Running Wilde: Chapter 2

After lunch, Judy and Nick had both planned to use their time on the Saturday to get a few things done at home.

They both received a message that there was a celebration with some of the officers in the recent gang-leader bust happening at a restaurant called the _Tabby's Green._

Nick did point out that it was a favourite for predators, but Judy said she was keen to be part of it.

On the way back on the bus, Judy stopped in for half an hour at a small mammal's gym to follow her routine. The ZPD Precinct 1 station did have a gym, but all the equipment was meant for much, much larger users.

After that she would shower off and hop back on the bus to her apartment.

It was two o'clock in the afternoon, but she had some clothes to wash and then evaluate her finances. Then update and chat on social media and wait for a call from her parents about four o'clock on Saturdays.

She had _strongly_ expressed that it was the best time for them to call her.

A weeks time, and she would be home for the weekend.

When she took Nick to come and visit Bunnyburrow, he did enjoy his time indoors and outdoors with all her kin all wanting to know him and play, but by the end of the second day her Mom found him hiding in the Attic.

She did let him know that she and her family wouldn't be offended if he locked himself in the guest room for an hour to get a little "me-time". They did understand that it was taxing for mammals that weren't used to a household that never seemed to stop.

For Judy, spending time with that constant vibe of activity and her family all around her re-energised her sense of self and motivation and she could be ready to return to the Zootopian Police Department with the strength to take on anything unexpected in the metropolis.

After the washing had finished, she took the load and carefully pressed and put away her uniforms and clothes.

She thought semi-casual would be fine for the dinner tonight.

Her phone started buzzing again and this time had the smiling faces of her parents on it.

She left her laundry and picked up her cell.

"Hey guys!"

She took note that her parents were both sitting in office chairs in the study so they finally got the webcam sorted on the PC.

"Hey! There she is!"  
"And still looking well!"

Her mom Bonnie showed a flash of concern.

"So I know the operation you were on is finally finished. It all went well I take it?"

"Oh sure!" smiled Judy "No problems. Got those crooks in jail!"

"Oh good! I'm missing our daily chats."

"Yeah, does that mean that we can dust the furniture off in your room for you to come home next weekend?" her father Stu added.

"Yep. Can't wait to get away for a while."

"Is your Fox partner Nick gonna pop is nose in too?"

"Maybe. I'll ask him."

"Well, quite a few of your younger siblings were asking if he's coming back"

Bonnie chuckled and looked at Stu.

"He is such a character."

Bonnie looked back at the camera

"Just remind him that he is entitled to some personal space if it gets too much for him and he can use the guest room, not the attic. Made me jump when I saw his green eyes looking back at me in the dark up there."

Judy smiled.

"I heard Pauls getting ready for the academy."

"Oh yes! He's really excited and getting packed already."

"It's really good that he's made this decision, I really hope that he knows what he's in for."

"Well, all you went through until graduation day was the topic around the household for a while around here."

"When he sets his mind to it I'm sure he'll do well. Half of it comes to attitude. Plus know he likes things set out in a structure, so he should be quite comfortable."

There was a pause.

"Anything else happening this weekend for you?" asked her father

"Oh yeah, I'm getting together with a group of officers that we part of our last case. We are going to the _Tabby's Green_ to celebrate."

"That's great! Well, Jude the Dude, You handle yourself out there."

"No Worries Dad! I will! "

"...so then these two stags take off down this alley at the same time! Grizzoli and I rounded the corner to see 'em stuck because their antlers were wedged in that alley so tightly they couldn't move!" Wolford chuckled "So you can imagine how long it took to pry their stag horns apart before we got em back to the station!"

Wolford joined in the laughter that went around the table after he finished his story.

He and four other members besides Judy and Nick from the precinct were drinking, eating chips and yakking about anything.

Judy had done her best to be a part of the conversation but she still found it wasn't really easy to pick up.

Nick seemed to be okay with it. He sat further up the table so he couldn't really talk to her properly.

Wolford looked at the bunny taking another sip at her drink as the laughter died down.

"You know Judy. We never actually heard the back-story behind that weasel rolling into the station stuck in a donut."

That put a smile and a chuckle on everyone at the table.

"Yeah" Judy began "interesting how that happened..."

"... so then I'm running after this giant plastic donut before it runs over a bunch of mice coming out of the shopping mall. I juuuust managed to grab it before it did."

Judy raised her hands in a shrug.

"Then I suppose I was wondering what to do with it."

Her colleagues around the table began to snigger.

"He didn't see me coming! He was too obsessed with is bag! I took the donut and jammed it over his head."

She chuckled.

"You should have seen Mchorn's face when I met him back at the gate."

"I would've liked to see that!" smiled Nick.

"What a way to go." Fangmeyer murmured "Out shopping to get squashed by a giant donut."

"You guys all comfortable?"

They all looked up to see a coyote waiter looking over the table.

Everyone at the table nodded

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"No problem."

He gazed at Judy.

"... and you too?"

Judy smiled. "Yeah. Of course."

She took a sip of her drink.

"That's good." The waiter continued. "I hate to see small prey feeling uncomfortable with all these big predators around. I'm sure you got your taser on you at all times"

The laid-back atmosphere came down crashing down like a hailstorm.

"Chuck, if you're finished here. Would you mind going to Table 3? They look like their ready to order."

A female hyena came forward and her eyes followed as the coyote waiter made his way to Table 3.

" I must apologise. Chuck doesn't know when to hold his tongue sometimes. It's not the first time."

She turned to the table. "Can I get you anything extra?"

"Oh no. We're fine" Delgato murmured.

There was a little more conversation after that before everyone decided that they were ready to call it a night.

They all said they would pitch in for the check, but when the folder arrived there was a note that said

'No Charge. This city needs heroes like you'

 _Subway Car 6C_

Benjamin Clawhauser looked up from his phone with a smile on his face. He'd just climbed on board the Subway train home.

He had picked a grab handle dangling from the ceiling and shuffled into place with the rest of the crowded train.

He stood there quietly in uniform and badge with his gear hanging from a strap over his right shoulder.

His phone had beeped him a message that read

6 seats down on the right ;)

Usually at the end of the day from the ZPD he would adding to pop culture discussion on his phone or chilling in his apartment.

Tonight he had a friend that began taking the same route to work through from Downtown Zootopia through to Savannah Central.

The train stopped and a number of mammals left the train.

The fewer numbers on the train allowed him to see the one he was looking for.

She got up and picked a grab handle next to Clawhauser.

Linda Dunn the Cheetah smiled.

"How's the ZPD's radio whiz going?"

 _The following morning_

Judy winced at the bright exit to the Subway Stairs to City Central. Spring was starting to bring warmer days as time went by so she was in her standard blue uniform, pads and vest.

She was just crossing the road, when she saw a familiar character step out of a teal car. She strolled over as the red fox was paying the Zuber driver.

The door slammed shut and Nick turned sheepishly to Judy.

"Forgot to set my alarm. Had a nice conversation with a zebra through." Indicating to the car pulling away.

Judy turned and they both took strides to the revolving doors at the precinct.

"It's nice when you meet mammals that ask about you" she said "but it's better to know that they genuinely want to know about who you are and not trying to find something wrong with you."

Nick glanced at his partner as they went through the doors.

"That zebra did mention a few other things about predators she drives around. There are a lot of predators that feel outraged about being deliberately being hit by Nighthowler to set them up to be hounded out of town".

Judy knew where this was going.

"That coyote last night certainly had a bone to pick." she replied. " I guess no ones gonna forget the nighthowlers anytime soon."

"Well, from how the other officers at the table felt, I reckon that coyote would have been tasered by any one of them if the boss hadn't stepped in"

He looked back up again

"As for the Nighthowlers, well, we nipped it in the bud pretty well. Bellweather and her closest nut jobs are in nice orange jumpsuits" he shrugged "It's just a matter of time til this calms down."

Judy held her chin up higher.

"We do our part and we do it well. That's how change happens."

Nick gave her a thumbs up.

"That's it Carrots! Now let's see what War-chief has to say."

Nick suddenly stopped dead in his stride. He knew something was different.

Judy heard his footfalls stop and turned with a questioning look.

Nick sniffed. What was it that was different?

Then it hit him.

No smell of sugar being given off by jelly donuts.

Secondly, no friendly 'Hi Nick! Hi Judy!' Coming from the front desk.

He turned to see an Antelope typing at the computer.

"Ah, 'cuse me?" Nick began

The antelope turned to the sound and glanced at the pair over the desktop.

"Oh. Hello!" she replied.

"Not sure if we've been introduced..."

"Oh. I'm Jessie! I used to be on the night shift. I'm filling in for Clawhauser for the morning. He said he'd spend some time going back to the Academy for some driving lessons."

Judy and Nick both looked at each other.

"Driving?" repeated Judy.

"Yeah, he's recently had an interest in polishing up his driving skills, so he'll be here a little later."

"Oh. Okay."

She glanced back at Nick.

He shrugged and they both began to walk towards the bull pen. The rest of the group in the lobby began to migrate towards it.

"Oh Yeah. Nick!"

Nick turned back to Jessie.

"There was a call from a Sarah. I'm sorry I forgot to take the details down, but she said she wanted to contact you".

Nick thought for a moment.

"Doesn't ring any bells!" he called back and dashed after the rest of the officers.

"Now, before I get started on the docket, I would like to congratulate all involved with the recent gang bust operation. The place in downtown Zootopia is better for it with leads to several other groups being followed in custody."

Chief Bogo leaned forward on the lectern.

"The businessman we have in custody is connected to the technology company Coltech. With the evidence gathered the officers involved may be called to testify when the attoneys make a case against the company. So we may be putting down a black market operation from the top."

He put his hoofs together.

"Everyone is feeling chuffed about your work. Good. Take it in. Savor it. Then FOCUS!

He put his reading glasses on.

"Moving on to TODAY!"

"First Officer Hopps and Wilde, I'll send you off to follow up a jewellery store robbery Downtown. Seems a prized medallion was stolen. A forensic team will meet you there. Now Higgens and Delgato a Professor in Savannah University has disappeared I..."

Bogo stopped when the sound of a duck quacking went through the Bull Pen causing him to raise an eyebrow.

Delagato let out a frustrated hiss as he turned his phone off.

Wilde made a little smile as he and his partner left the Bull Pen.

Hopps looked at the file that was handed to her.

"Regal Jewellers... Downtown... Willows shopping mall"

"Well, ain't that interesting" Nick murmured. "We were just across at _Sushi Corner_ the other day. Ol' Collin Lionel's been running that Jewellery stall since before either of us was born. He's one of the most reliable designer Jewellers around."

"Okay, so what do you think of him?"

" _Really_ the perfectionist, whatever he had there must have been a work of art. He'd be pretty embarrassed that it happened in his shop"

"So we can make a few discreet questions if their other business owners saw anything."

"Don't worry Carrots, discretion is my middle name."

"Oh, so it's not Piberius?"

There was a coughing fit in front of them as Clawhauser's mouthful of coffee came gushing out of his mouth.

"Hey Clawhauser! Good to see you!" Judy chimed

The big Cheetah quietly wiped his mouth and the coffee escaping out of his nostrils.

"Hey Guys!" he coughed before wiping his mouth again. "You guys look like you're ready to take on another case."

Judy smiled. Nick was still glaring at his partner.

"Well, I'm here if you need any assistance, resources or sourcing potential suspects." Clawhauser grinned.

"Of course!" Judy replied. "Wouldn't have it any other way!"

"Great! Well, I better let you guys get going!"

"Yep, see ya!"

The pair went past. Nick was still tight lipped.

"Nick!" Clawhauser added. "I won't tell anyone!"

"Tell anyone... what?" he replied

Clawhauser opened his mouth to answer, before taking in the gleam in the foxes eyes.

"Nothing." He replied nervously

Nick smiled.

"Gooooood..."


End file.
